


A Freak Like Me

by AflizaZergan



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Blood and Gore, Culling (Homestuck), F/F, F/M, Fantrolls, Homestuck - Freeform, M/M, Murder, Slavery, TW for the entire lifestyle of trolls because it's fucked up, The entire story is just about troll culture, Trolls (Homestuck), highbloods are dicks, there isn't enough of that tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-09 18:24:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14721266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AflizaZergan/pseuds/AflizaZergan
Summary: Afliza Zergan had been an anomaly ever since she hatched from her snug little egg. She emerged as a mostly normal looking wriggler with twinkling eyes and tiny little horns nestled in the nest of black hair that rested on her head. What was abnormal, though, was the bright red of her plump little body which had six stubby dark legs accompanying either side. The young wriggler had no idea what she was nor did she ever imagine that one day, she would be among one of the most hated groups of trolls on the planet.This is the story of Afliza's life as a mutant-blooded troll in a society that still punishes those who are different.





	1. The Birth of a Mutant

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So the beginning is a little devoid of dialogue just so I can set the story up. Please let me know if you enjoy it and want to read more! I'll try and update as often as possible!

One out of a hundred thousand eggs. One hundred thousand possibilities, and you had to be hatched a freak. 

Afliza Zergan had been an anomaly ever since she hatched from her snug little egg. She emerged as a mostly normal looking wriggler with twinkling eyes and tiny little horns nestled in the nest of black hair that rested on her head. What was abnormal, though, was the bright red of her plump little body which had six stubby dark legs accompanying either side. The young wriggler had no idea what she was nor did she ever imagine that one day, she would be among one of the most hated groups of trolls on the planet. Neither did the other wrigglers around her for that matter. The only thing they seemed to be interested in was finding a stalagmite to pupate on in the murky cave inhabited by their monstrous mother grub. 

Once pupated, the troll was immediately thrown to the wolves. She underwent the same trials as every young troll that wished to live – only she didn’t seem to complete them with as much ease as the other trolls. Her fragile frame and short stature made fighting her way out of the cave no easy feat, but somehow, she passed. However, she did not escape unscathed. Bright red blood trickled from a deep wound across her shoulder and she was losing blood fast. One of the lusii in attendance was kind enough to take the injured troll under her wing, quickly applying pressure to the gore that inhabited her shoulder and taking off with her in the opposite direction of the scene. Afliza never did understand why any lusus would ever rescue her. Maybe it was pity out of knowing that she would bleed out after fighting so hard to get to the mouth of the cave or maybe it was out of protection, seeing as the other young trolls seemed to gang up on her. Especially the high bloods. Either way it gave her a taste of what the base of the species’ society was all about. Murder. Kill or be killed. 

As she grew up, Afliza younger years were consumed with intense strength training at the command of her lusus and against her wishes in order to build her feeble body into something she could protect herself with. She acquired a taste for caring for the sick and injured animals that populated the area surrounding her hive, even if it meant that she would be bitten or scratched in the process. Often when going out to obtain fresh wrigglers for her lusus’ consumption, she would come across an animal or two. Even though she was always instructed to move quickly and remain unseen, the troll always stopped to help. She couldn’t leave a dying animal alone in good conscience even if she knew it wouldn’t make it. On more than one occasion, Afliza brought wounded animals back to her hive and hid them up in her respite block so as to not anger her lusus. Once the animal was patched up and healthy enough, it would be set free. 

She never felt the need to hide the color of her blood, especially since her hive was far off from anyone else’s. Her lusus never even warned her of the dangers of having mutant blood. Loneliness consumed her and at the tender age of six sweeps, she turned to trollian. She wanted a moirail more than anything in the world. Someone to share her feelings of self-doubt with. Someone to comfort her. Someone who wasn’t her overprotective lusus. The turning point in her life occurred the moment that she flipped open her husktop for the first time and downloaded the chat client. It was there that she began a roulette style of searching for literally anybody to talk to, disconnecting many of the rude trolls. What was the problem with having red text? She rolled her eyes as she connected with someone who called themselves “crookedAtlantean” with violet colored text. The conversation went well and before she knew it, they were the best of friends. The two spoke nearly every day for weeks and even exchanged pictures of each other. The troll she was talking to was a gorgeous violet-blooded girl with her long black hair styled neatly in a low bun as her horns swirled around and then curved upward. The tips of her hair were also stained violet, matching her makeup and Afliza noticed that she had even adorned herself in golden jewelry from her nose ring to the lavish necklaces that dangled from her neck. The main difference though, was that the girl was a sea dweller.

“Well go on! I showed you what I look like, it’s your turn. Don’t be a wriggler!” The violet text taunted her as she took a deep breath. 

Afliza almost felt inadequate sending a picture of herself- her dark hair hung messily around her face and nearly touched her waist while her squatty, double-pointed horns stood in a lackluster position at the top of her head. The only jewelry she had on were the multiple plain black earrings in her ears, and the ring threaded though the middle of her nose. Freckles dusted across her nose as well, an imperfection she didn’t understand since it was incredibly dangerous to be out in the sunlight. She always just figured her recoupracoon was just way too close to the window. 

“There. I’m not really anything special to look at. There’s one of the animals I’m caring for in the background though. Flybeast with a broken wing.”

The violet blood, now known to Afliza as Edrefi Khioge, replied with pleasant complements nonetheless. She even cooed over how adorable her flybeast was. In a matter of a few more weeks, the two were official moirails.

“Afliza, you have to come visit my hive. I’m dying to see you but I know your lusus would cull the shit out of me if I even got within a foot of you. The dark season is coming up too, so you should be able to make the trip without burnin’ to a crisp.”

The mutant blood stared at the text for a minute before she replied 

“I’m highly dubious that she wouldn’t question where I’m going and cull me herself.”

“Don’t be a pussy, just sneak out.”

The low blood sighed. She had never done anything like that before, though the idea had crossed her thinkpan a few times. 

“Fine. I’ll make the trip as soon as the dark season begins. You better fucking love me.” 

The dark season rolled around quickly and made it possible to be outside for more than a few hours a day, the perfect time for the low blood to sneak out of her hive to finally meet her moirail in person. She tied her hair up in a bun after making sure she had a respectable amount of makeup on and placed the cape she was always required by her lusus to wear while she was out of the hive around her shoulders.  
She shot a quick message to Edrefi. 

“I’m on my way.”

As soon as dusk hit, she climbed quietly out of her window, dropping to the ground with a muffled thud. Afliza then quickly made a run for the shore, excitement filling her like a white-hot flame in the pit of her stomach. After about forty-five minutes, she had arrived at the beach. The mutant troll barely had time to take in the view before she was greeted warmly by Edrefi. The high blood took her by the hand after a well anticipated hug and lead her to the hive. Hive was really an understatement to Afliza, the place looked like a full-blown palace. She made her way timidly inside only to be greeted once again, this time by another violet blood who introduced himself as Edrefi’s brother. 

“You must be Miss. Zergan. It’s lovely to meet you I’ve heard so many good things about you.” He smirked shaking the low blood's hand “I’m Edrius.”

Afliza politely shook his hand but something about the second high blood was…off-putting to say the least. His stare was cold and his smile sent chills up her spine. It took all she had to not shy away from him. He would have been intimidating enough on his own even without the creepy grin spread across his face, standing a foot taller than her wearing a chest piece which could only be described as some sort of armor. He was also decorated in gold- Three gold rings in his eyebrow and a gold ring around each of his fingers. His horns were identical to his sister’s though his hair wasn’t tinted that shade of deep violet like hers was. 

“It’s nice to meet you too. “She mumbled as she tried to retract her hand from Edrius’ grip. He held on tightly, however, smirk fading from his face as he stared directly into her eyes. Afliza looked to her moirail for help, only to discover that she was no longer by her side. In fact, she had vanished completely. The low blood began to panic.

“No need to be so frightened, dear one. You and I will get on just swimmingly I can already tell.” He spun Afliza around in a circle slowly “Yes…you’ll make a fine mutant slave.”  
She felt her blood pusher drop down into her stomach and her eyes widened. Mutant slave? That was just ridiculous. It had to be some kind of sick joke. “Edrefi!” She called out in panic as she tried to pull away from the strong grip of the man in front of her.

“Did you honestly think she would ever want to be associated in a quadrant with someone like you? Please, mutants are meant to be culled. We’re performing a great act of mercy by adding you to our collection of slaves.” He gripped tightly onto both of Afliza’s wrists as the fear inducing smirk crept over his face once more. “So beautiful…. Guards, take her to the slave’s quarters.” And with that she was ripped away from the high blood's grasp and was carried away as she kicked and screamed. 

“You motherfucker! You’ll be culled for this, my lusus will come looking for me!”

Edrius chuckled “My dear, royalty never faces repercussions for enslaving low bloods, especially mutants such as yourself. His Honorable Tyranny encourages it. And as for your lusus, well she’s already dead. I guess she can’t fight all your battles after all.”

Tears began to stream down Afliza’s face as she is carried down the long corridor, screaming in frustration and agony.


	2. Sweeps Gone By

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been approximately three and a half sweeps since Afliza had been taken into captivity. The lowblood trade was still going strong and her fellow slaves came and went as easily as the blistering sun would rise and set. There were very few trolls that ever stayed for very long however, she was destined to stay since she was a mutant and was considered a rather rare commodity. An excellent addition to any highblood’s collection of slaves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for rape. It doesn't go much into detail at all as I think it's pretty clear what goes down. Another TW for a lot of gore and some torture as well. The first part occurs from an oliveblood's point of view. He's important later I promise.

“Low bloods want rights! Low bloods want rights!” 

The palace where the emperor, His Honorable Tyranny was resided was now blocked off completely as a rioting group of low blood trolls were beginning a protest. Their enraged chanting echoed throughout the courtyard as more and more low bloods began to gather together. It had been just a few sweeps since the mysterious disappearance of thousands of low bloods had begun. It started with one or two rust bloods, most just assumed that they had succumbed to a terrible fate as that was just the way of the life that they were all used to. However, the disappearances continued with more trolls going missing in shorter time periods and the victims appeared to be crawling up on the hemospectrum. If you were olive-blooded or lower, you could consider yourself to be in vast danger. Some of the protesting trolls held signs while others took to the more extreme approach, waving primitive-looking torches as they threatened to burn the palace to the ground. 

 

“Low bloods will NOT be oppressed any longer because of something that we have no power over. Emperor Krayos has demonized us for the LAST TIME. WE WILL BE HEARD AND WE WILL DEMAND THE RIGHT TO LIVE OUR LIVES WITHOUT THE FEAR OF BEING ABDUCTED FOR THE LOW BLOOD SLAVE TRADE!” The troll leading the riot was an olive blood, higher up on the spectrum than most in attendance but still in danger nonetheless. He stood high above the others on a crate that he had found and shouted his undertakings to the gathering audience below. “WE ARE NOT PLAYTHINGS. WE ARE NOT MEANT TO SERVE. WE ARE TROLLS WITH LIVES AND EMOTIONS JUST LIKE THE HIGH BLOODS. WE DESERVE JUSTICE!” 

 

The rioters roared in agreement, throwing rocks among other things at the windows of the enormous palace. “WE WILL LIVE OUR LIVES IN PEACE! WE WI- “The olive-blooded troll was cut off as something struck his left eye. A high blood soldier, towering over him, had taken a knife and promptly shoved it into the riot leader’s eye. 

 

“Crivox!” One of the audience members cried out to him, trying to run to his aid before she was struck dead by an axe to the head, courtesy of yet another soldier. Her head tumbled off somewhere on the lawn as her body fell with the torch still in her hand, easily catching the grass on fire and distracting his attackers. 

 

Crivox cried out in pain as he fell to his knees and took hold of the knife’s handle, ripping it out of his eye as it emitted a loud squelching sound and spurted blood down his face. He quickly got low to the ground and crawled out of sight just in time to see the mass of rioters being culled by a ridiculous number of royal soldiers. The grotesque rainbow of blood coating the lawn paired with the agony that emanated from his eye was enough to make him vomit. Once he was done retching, Crivox applied pressure to his wound with the sleeve of his shirt and quickly half-ran and half-crawled away from the scene. 

 

 

…………………………………….

 

It had been approximately three and a half sweeps since Afliza had been taken into captivity. The low blood trade was still going strong and her fellow slaves came and went as easily as the blistering sun would rise and set. There were very few trolls that ever stayed for very long however, she was destined to stay since she was a mutant and was considered a rather rare commodity. An excellent addition to any high blood's collection of slaves. She was to be a prized possession, so she was dressed in an elegant black dress, though short, and had her hair styled in a sophisticated bun at the top of her head.

At first, the mutant was a spitfire. At first her daily chores included cleaning and cooking for the royal siblings but she always found a way to portray her spite into everything she did from spitting in their food to outright refusing to serve- which would result in multiple floggings at the hands of Edrius. That never stopped her, though. She would simply wash off the gashes on her back when her work was done and go right back to being defiant in any way that she possibly could the next day. Edrius, though annoyed, found this trait to be endearing and he secretly enjoyed the little fits of rage that would erupt from his prized mutant. He made a silent vow to break her will no matter what it took.  
And break her he did. He did something that Afliza hadn’t even considered would happen in a million sweeps. 

 

“Afliza dear, I’m going to need to see you up in my quarters after dinner.” He stated cooly after the low blood had once again purposefully burnt the dinner that she was supposed to prepare for the siblings. Her gaze shifted over to Edrifa who only sneered and looked back down at her phone. 

 

Later into the night, Afliza made her way into the prince’s respite block. “Tell me, do you think this kind of behavior is acceptable for a slave?” Edrius asked with a dangerous edge in his voice. Afliza only stared back at him, refusing to speak.

 

“I see…” In a swift motion, the violet blood grabbed Afliza by the hair and dragged her to the middle of the room before tossing her to the floor. “I had to fight Edrifa in order to keep you alive, do you understand me? She wanted to have you culled for a prophet!” He growled as he kicked the girl’s side, leaving her gasping and clutching the affected area. It was at that point that Edrius knelt on the ground beside her and tugged her heat up by a horn so that she was looking him in the eyes. “The floggings are obviously not working…but I’ve thought of another way to break you. I’ll put you in your place yet.” He snarled and yanked Afliza’s dress up over her hips. 

 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Get the fuck off of me!” She reached up to push Edrius away but he only caught her wrist in the motion and held it firmly. Tears began to well in her eyes as she tried scrambling away from her captor. What he did next was unforgivable. He held her down with all his strength and released his bulge, proceeding to have his way with her. Once he had finished deep inside her nook, he left her there in the middle of the floor with bruises all over her body and makeup running down her cheeks. “You can expect this to be a part of your daily chores from now on.” Edrius said with that chilling grin on his face.  
Afliza shakily got to her feet, glaring at the highblood. With a loud cry, she lunged at him with all she had. The mutant had him by the hair and was currently trying to bash his head into the doorway which only angered the highblood even more than he ever was. He reached back to grab her hair again and ended up leaving two deep linear scratches from his claws over her left eye and halfway down her cheek. This was enough to make her stumble back in surprise which gave the violetblood time to grasp onto her and start yanking her down the stairs. 

 

“Even after that you don’t know your fucking place?! That’s a real pity…and look at what’s happened to your pretty face.” The sun was about to rise and Edrius knew it. This was his last resort plan before he agreed to have her culled. The high blood flung open his front door, holding Afliza with her arms behind her back outside and away from the protection of the hive. 

 

“No! No, please, Edrius don’t do this!” She begged as she looked back at him with blood still trickling down her face. The prince only laughed “You’ll learn your lesson one way or another. I’m deeply sorry that it had to come to this.” He said in a mocking tone as the sun rose over the shoreline. Afliza screamed as the sun’s blistering rays caressed her gray skin. It was a mild burning that quickly turned into an intense, scorching sensation all over the exposed areas of her body similar to the sensation of being burned alive. Blisters began to form on the exposed parts of her arms and shoulders and suddenly, before they could fully nestle themselves into her skin, Edrius pulled her back into the hive and slammed the door shut. “Now…go get yourself cleaned up and go straight to the slave’s quarters. And stay the fuck out of my sight until I call you again, alright?” 

 

He shoved her away towards the stairs and made his way down one of the long hallways by himself, smirking. Afliza shakily headed up the stairs, keeping her head down as some of the other low blood slaves looked at her with pity-filled eyes. Purple genetic material dripped down her thigh and her own blood now stained the gorgeous dress as well as her hands. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. But she stayed silent as she made her way to the slave quarters and headed straight to the showers. 

 

…………………………..

 

Crivox now sat in his hive, staring at his reflection. His empty eye socket was now sewn shut and blood stained his forked horns and down each side that curled slightly downward. He sighed, just hoping that he wasn’t the only one lucky enough to escape with his life. He knew that the riot would be risky and he should’ve anticipated the result, but he was just so blinded by rage that he didn’t take into account the fact that he was inadvertently sentencing at least fifty trolls to their death.  
Once Crivox decided that he had had enough of his pity party, he reached for his husktop and opened the lid. He hovered his cursor over his friend with the trollian handle “fallowTerrorist” before he gathered the courage to message him.

 

“Rhizux, are you alright? Please tell me you made it out alive.” He held his breath as he waited for a response

 

Not long after, his husktop chimed and he sighed in relief as he read the maroon text “Yeah. I’m fine. Barely even a scratch on me. There’s no way I’d die without thanking you for leading us all to our deaths anyway. So, thanks for that."

 

“Look, I realize it was a bad decision but I have another Idea that should make things right. We just need to hit the high bloods close to home. We need to harm one of them. Preferably the emperor.”

 

“You’re going to put a hit on a royal and it’s gonna have to be me to carry out the dirty deed, Isn’t it?”

 

Crivox chewed on his lip a bit before finally replying “Precisely. You’re the one who’s always bragging about being a merc anyway. Who better than you?”

 

Rhizux replied quickly “Woah, woah I never said I didn’t want the satisfaction. We can’t just go after Emperor Krayos though. He’s too heavily guarded. We need to start lower down in the food-chain. May I suggest that airhead violet blood princess and her brother? I bet they have a shit ton of low bloods held up in that shitty palace of theirs.”

 

“Rhizux Degdra, you’re an absolute genius. I’m proud to have you as a rust blood mercenary for our cause.”

 

“Yeah, I know. I’ll head out tomorrow. The sun’s coming up now so it’d be too dangerous.”

 

And with that Crivox shut his husktop with a shit-eating grin plastered across his face. He was going to get his point across to society one way or another.


	3. An Eye for An Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sun had finally set and Afliza hadn’t gotten any sleep. The horrific events were enough to keep her awake as she tossed and turned on her dingy cot on the floor which was one of twenty in the small room that was designated for sleeping. Frustrated, she finally sat up and hugged her knees to her chest, letting tears drip from her eyes and onto her nightgown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of a beautiful alliance

Rhizux began preparing for his mission as soon as his conversation with Crivox had ended. He had always been loyal to the cause, especially since he was a survivor of the low blood trade himself. When he was seven sweeps old, an indigo blood had taken ahold of his horns and snapped them both clean in half, leaving him with just the jagged-ended base on either side of his head. He decided after that day that he refused to be ashamed of an event that only fueled his hatred of society and shaved the sides of his head to make the stubs more visible, leaving a small mohawk of dreaded hair right in the middle. He wore a mask over his nose and his mouth whenever he was assigned to complete an assassination while leaving the rest of his freckled face exposed. He wouldn’t dare cover his whole face. He wanted the last thing any of his high-status victims saw was the face of a low blood standing over them triumphant. 

He had escaped on his own using one of his master’s prized swords from his collection. The guy was an idiot in Rhizux’s eyes to have left weapons laying around like that anyway. He had it coming from the moment he plucked the rust blood out of his lusus’ arms. Or claws rather. Rhizux kept the sword as a trophy and now carried it with him throughout each assignment, and this one was no exception. He armed himself with the sword slung over his back and a knife strapped to his ankle. He debated carrying a gun on his hip but decided against it. This was going to be quick and easy. He didn’t feel like dealing with that extra bullshit.

He left his hive as the sun began to set and let what was left if it’s lethal rays dance across his exposed skin. It didn’t bother him much anymore, especially since it was just sundown and the heat wasn’t even near as intense as normal. Night had fallen like a blanket over the sky when he finally approached the beach. The troll climbed high up into a tree and peered into one of the windows of the wretched high blood siblings’ palace. It was there where he saw Edrefi beating the absolute shit out of an bronze-blooded man. He was far bigger than she was, so Rhidux didn’t understand why he wouldn’t just get up and fight. That was, until he saw something that hadn’t even crossed his mind. What looked like violet lightning shot out of the princess’s fingertips and struck her slave right in the back. He fell to his knees, now coughing up blood. Rhizux growled lowly as he reached his hand back and grabbed the handle of his sword. 

Edrefi stopped suddenly and looked straight at the window. The rust blood let go of his sword quickly and sank into the leaves of the tree. The sensation of being watched seemed to have put her on edge as she waved the slave that she was beating away and she drew her curtains. “Great.” Rhizux mumbled under his breath as he shimmied down the tree trunk and made his way through the shadows towards the back of the palace. He could hear footsteps coming from the back door and he quickly hid himself behind a hedge. When the low blood peeked around the corner, he spotted Edrius dragging what appeared to be a mutant-blooded girl behind him. 

 

……………………………………………………….  
The sun had finally set and Afliza hadn’t gotten any sleep. The horrific events were enough to keep her awake as she tossed and turned on her dingy cot on the floor which was one of twenty in the small room that was designated for sleeping. Frustrated, she finally sat up and hugged her knees to her chest, letting tears drip from her eyes and onto her nightgown. She only had a few more minutes before Edrefi would storm in to wake them up anyway. She decided to go ahead and get ready for the day, pulling on a clean dress and pinning her hair back up into a bun again. 

 

To her dismay, it wasn’t Edrefi waking the slaves up this morning, but Edrius. A smile crept onto his face as Afliza looked down at the floor to avoid eye contact. “Well good morning, beautiful…. I have a big day planned for you. As for the rest of you, I WANT YOUR ASSES UP AND DOING YOUR CHORES IN FIVE MINUTES OR YOU WILL BE CULLED!” He stormed into the tiny room, stepping over and occasionally on some of the other slaves before he got to Afliza. He brushed a thumb over the scabbed-up wound that was now displayed on her face before yanking her by the arm out the door. 

 

Her arms burned from being out in the sun earlier and she hissed in pain as he only gripped them tighter while they walked down the stairs. “As much as I’d love to keep you, His Honorable Tyranny has caught wind of your existence and is willing to pay big money for a mutant such as yourself. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun before I have to send you off.”

 

Edrius dragged Afliza to his respite block, despite the fact that she was pulling away as hard as she could. He shoved her inside, letting go of her arms before turning around to shut the door. This gave the mutant girl enough time to snag a vase off of his dresser and crack him over the head with it. 

 

“Keep your fishy fucking hands off of me, asshole!” He fell to the floor on the bed of shattered glass that had scattered over the carpet and, wasting no time, she jumped over him through the door and down the long corridor as she tried to reach the second flight of stairs. 

 

Edrius groaned as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head with his hand. It was throbbing with pain but she hadn’t broken the skin. “MUTANT SCUM!” He shrieked as he jumped to his feet to try and catch up to Afliza. She had just made it to the stairs when she heard the enraged high blood thundering after her. As she turned around, she observed that he wasn’t far off from catching her either. The mutant giel began to run down the tall fight of stairs when suddenly, she felt a hand shove her the rest of the way down. As she tumbled she could hear Edrius’ eerily calm voice following behind her.

 

“You do realize what you’ve just done is a crime, right? Attacking a royal high blood like that…. it’s punishable by death.” Once Afliza’s body reached the bottom of the stairs, Edrius seized her by the hair and pulled her to her feet. “I’m afraid the emperor is just going to have to find himself another mutant slave. I would be putting his life in danger by handing you off to him.”

 

Afliza growled, staring him straight in the eyes as she bared her dangerously pointed teeth “I won’t hesitate to rip your fucking throat out if you EVER touch me like that again.”  
This only surfaced a laugh from the high blood as he dragged her down a hallway towards the back door and then through his courtyard- which had a small dock leading out to the ocean in the far back corner. “I suppose I’ll just have to tell him that you drowned yourself. What a pity to waste such beauty…” Afliza’s stomach dropped as he dragged her onto the surprisingly rickety wooden dock. Edrius then promptly brought her to her knees and then, getting a rough grip on her hair, shoved the mutant’s head down deep into the water, holding it there.

 

………………………………………………

Rhizux jumped out from behind the hedge as he saw the girl’s head get pushed underwater, drawing his sword and charging the high blood. He drove the blade deep into Edrius’ arm with a yell, causing him to let go and the girl to come back up for air as she gasped and choked. The prince stumbled back and in a panicked motion, flung a violet colored ball of energy at his attacker. Rhizux just barely missed it but in dodging, had dropped his prized sword into the water below. The rust blood growled and equipped his knife that he had strapped onto his ankle into his hand. There was no way he was going to be able to assassinate Edrius Khioge with just a pathetic little knife. He would have to settle for avenging his friend’s eye and rescuing the girl.

 

“An eye for an eye, motherfucker.” He drove the knife deep into the prince’s right eye with a loud squelch, earning a satisfying cry of pain. With that, he picked Afliza up bridal style and ran off. Rhizux definitely had to remind himself that even the small victories made a difference for the cause. He managed to get Afliza away from the shore before standing her on her feet. He noticed the scratch down her eye and the bruises that covered her body. It only filled him with more rage.

 

“Okay. I think we’re far enough out now. Can you walk?” 

 

Afliza nodded “Yeah, I’m fine now…. thanks.” She unpinned her hair and let it fall down to it’s natural position past her waist.

 

“I’m Rhizux. I’m a mercenary for the low blood resistance so you have to tell me how many more low bloods that prissy little bitch has in his hell hole.”

 

“Afliza. And I’m not entirely sure. I slept in a room with nineteen other trolls but there could be more.” She sighed

 

Rhizux shook his head “Alright. That’s all I need to know for now. I’ll ask you some more questions later after we get you cleaned up. There’s someone I want you to meet.” 

 

Afliza was lead to Crivox’s hive. It was small but it reminded her of her old one that she shared with her lusus so many sweeps ago. She bit back her tears as Rhizux knocked on the door and an olive blood answered. 

“Ah, Rhizux. The hit went well I take it?”

 

The rustblood lowered his mask as he shook his head “Change of plans. This here’s Afliza. Mutant blood. I rescued her from the royal brats. Edrius was trying to drown her.”

 

Crivox turned to Afliza “Oh, you poor thing! Come on inside. I’ll get you some dry clothes.”

 

Afliza was weary of trusting the two but found herself entering the hive anyway. She had nowhere else to go after all. Crivox took her gently by the hand and lead her to his respite block “There are some clothes in my dresser that should fit you. Go ahead and get changed while I make you some tea. And Rhizux, we have some things to discuss.” He raised an eyebrow at the rust blood who smirked and raised his hands in surrender as they left Afliza to her own devices.  
Crivox ran a hand through his hair with a sigh “So, what happened? He was drowning Afliza and you just decided not to kill him?!”

 

“It wasn’t like that. My fucking sword fell into the water.” A smile creeped across Rhizux’s face “Don’t worry. He didn’t get out of it unscathed. I stabbed him in the eye for you.” The rust blood brushed his thumb gently under Crivox’s now sewn shut eye socket. “He definitely doesn’t pull it off like you do, though. Quite the opposite actually. He’s one ugly son of a bitch.” He chuckled.

 

Crivox sighed and leaned into the touch “Well…I suppose that’s better than nothing. Are you aware that you’re the clumsiest mercenary I’ve ever met?” 

 

The rust blood grinned “And you’re still flushed for me.” He pressed a gentle kiss to Crivox’s forehead. 

 

Crivox shied away, turning back to the kitchen area to make the tea he had promised Afliza “That doesn’t change the fact that you don’t want me in your quadrant. I get that you could die at any point in time but that goes for all of us low bloods! Can’t we just enjoy each other while we’re both alive?”

 

Rhizux was about to respond when Afliza stepped into the room wearing an over-sized shirt and some shorts. “I’m sorry to interrupt…but do you have anything I can clean my scratches off with? Prince Edrius did jack shit about them and they’re pretty deep.” 

 

“Oh, dear! Of course! Here, drink your tea while I fetch you a bandage.” Crivox scurried off to find some medical supplies, leaving the kettle on the hot stove. Rhizux chuckled and went to turn the stove off after him.

 

“He’s going to burn his damn hive down one of these days.” The rust blood sighed as he poured Afliza a cup of tea and handed it to her “Go ahead and sit down. We’ll clean up your cuts. Your arms look like you’ve been out in the sun too.” 

 

Afliza took a seat and sipped her tea. A few moments later Crivox had returned and was fussing over her injuries, cleaning and bandaging them up. “Afliza, my goodness, what in the hell did he do to you?! Your arms are covered in little blisters for god sakes!” Once he had finished doctoring up the mutant girl, he sat down across from her.

 

“I realize you’ve been through something highly traumatic and I’m deeply sorry that this happened to you…but I need to know exactly what he did so that Rhizux and I can make it right.” The rust blood put his hand on Crivox’s shoulder

 

“That’s right, little lady. Start from the beginning and if it gets to be too much, we can take a break.”


	4. Royal Brats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, I'm just tying up some loose ends. But there's fluff! Yay!

Edrius’ cry had lured his sister out of the castle just after the pair of low bloods had absconded from the scene. She hastily knelt down beside him and pulled the knife out of his eye socket with a shaky hand. “Edruis? Can you hear me? Who the hell did this to you?!” Edrefi pulled a handkerchief out of her brother’s shirt pocket and pressed it to his wounded eye, saturating the cloth in violet. 

 

The violet-blooded prince shoved his sister’s hand away and compressed the handkerchief to his eye himself. “Dirty rust blood mercenary came and stole the mutant!” He growled as he got to his feet and offered a hand to Edrefi so that she could stand as well “Fucker stabbed me in the eye.” Edrius gestured to the eyeball that was attached to the knife that now laid on the ground for emphasis. Violet blood now coated his hand and the dress shirt he was wearing. 

 

Instead of the sympathy that he expected to receive from Edrefi, she burst into laughter. “You’re kiddin’ me, right? A rust blood came and stabbed you in the eye? My god that’s brilliant!” Her cackling continued until Edrius shoved her into the water below with a mighty push.

 

“You think this is a goddamn game? That mercenary was part of the fucking low blood resistance. Do you know what kind of advantage they’ll have now that they have a mutant slave survivor on their side!?” He spat as he looked down at the pouting princess below. “I think it’s high time we call for some drones to do a little patrolling. Don’t you?”

 

Edrefi cursed as she pulled herself out of the water and back onto the dock “Right, yeah, we’ll call in the drones and then what? We still gotta explain to Krayos why his mutant is missing. By the way, why the hell were you out here with her anyway?”

 

“Little brat hit me over the head with a vase and ran for it. I was going to drown her and just tell the emperor that she drowned herself.” He mumbled, grunting as a sharp pain suddenly rose from his eye. “Laugh and you’re back in the water.” 

 

Edrefi rolled her eyes and helped her brother by the arm back towards the palace “See, I was going to laugh up until the point where you said you were going to drown her. It’s almost like you care more about your pride than the INSANE AMOUNT OF MONEY WE WERE GOING TO GET.” She huffed as she shooed her brother inside “Fuckin’ idiot you care more about getting your bulge wet than the consequences we’re gonna face from losing said brat. What do we tell Krayos now, huh?!”

 

Edruis rang a bell, calling for one of his servants to tend to his eye. “We tell him that she was taken. Plain and simple.” He plopped down on one of the lavish couches with a sigh. “Get me a phone. I’ll tell him myself.”

 

“You’re so getting yourself culled.” Edrefi sighed as she handed over her phone

 

……………………………………………

 

“That’s horrifying! I knew the prince was arrogant but to take advantage of you among all other things…you poor dear. I’m so sorry that happened to you.” Crivox took Afliza’s hand in his own and squeezed it reassuringly. “Then to go and hold you out in the sun like that…you’re so, so brave to still fight back. If you hadn’t, I doubt that Rhizux would have even known you were there!” 

 

Rhizux nodded in agreement “You know, we kinda need a hellfire like you to help us out with the resistance. Plus, you kind of survived the impossible…hell, you’re still surviving the impossible because you’re a muta- “ He was cut off with an elbow to the ribs.

 

“Rhizux! She’s been through a lot. Let’s let her rest tonight. We can discuss the resistance tomorrow.” Crivox apologetically leaned up against the mercenary’s side.

 

“What…resistance?” Afliza raised an eyebrow as she slowly let go of Crivox’s hand.

 

“Oh, of course, you were quite sheltered up in that palace, weren’t you? Surely someone told you of the low blood resistance.” The olive blood's brow furrowed 

 

Afliza shook her head "Rhizux told me he was with the resistance when he rescued me...but, I didn't really know what that entailed. I also really didn't have the time to ask any questions. We were kind of busy escaping."

 

“No matter. We’ll discuss this further tomorrow. Right now, it’s imperative that you get some rest. You may use my recoupracoon so that some of your minor bumps and bruises can heal. Your body looks pretty tired too…Now off you go, I’ll see you tomorrow!” Crivox got up from his spot on the couch and shooed her off to his respite block, shutting the door behind her and then returning to the couch to sit beside Rhizux.

 

“That was pretty damn brutal.” The rust blood said as he laid down, putting his feet in Crivox’s lap.

 

“I don’t know what I expected…but it certainly wasn’t that. We’ll have to educate her tomorrow about the resistance. She seemed to show a slight interest in it at the very least.”

 

Rhizux chuckled “Hey, Criv? I’ve been thinking…I think you’re right. Why not enjoy each other while we’re alive?” He sat back up and pressed his forehead to the olive blooded troll’s “So, what do ya say? Wanna be my matesprit?”

 

Crivox grinned and leaned in to press a sweet kiss to Rhizux’s lips “I thought you’d never ask.” 

 

“Oh, hell yes.” The rust blood chuckled and pulled the other in for a deeper kiss.

…………………………………………………

 

Edruis hung up the phone with a sigh as a bronze-blooded girl worked hard at patching up his eye. 

 

“Well, what did he say?” Edrefi asked, filing away at her claws

 

“He isn’t happy, that’s for damn sure. However, he isn’t going to take it out on us. In fact, he’s going to have drones hunting her down so that he can execute her in front of all the low blood scumbags that riot all over the place.” The bronze blood glanced at the prince but kept her mouth shut. 

 

“But still no cash prize for us.” The princess rolled her eyes and set the claw file down “So all we got outta it was an escaped slave, a broken vase, and your eye got stabbed out to top it all off. Sounds like this was all super worth it. Glad I wasted my time lurin’ her here.” 

 

Edrius threw the phone at his sister and it hit her chest with a loud smack “Don’t you get it?! You didn’t waste your time by any means. If we find her before the drones do then we get the glory and the money. Plus, what is it to you anyway? It’s not exactly like we’re strapped for cash.” He gestured to the luxurious palace around them. 

 

Edrefi scoffed and rubbed her chest where the phone had struck “It isn’t necessarily all about the money. It’s the satisfaction of having the pink-blooded bastard fork it over to us. He isn’t necessarily a fan of the two of us if you haven’t noticed.”

 

The prince shrugged “I suppose not. I mean, when he found out that we had a mutant he nearly flipped his shit. I guess it felt good to make him jealous.  
“Exactly. So, won’t it feel good when he can’t find her with his gigantic ass drones and we waltz in with the mutant all by ourselves? Imagine the look on his face!” Edrefi snorted “Money’s just a bonus. The real reward is makin’ the emperor jealous as fuck.” 

 

“I guess you’re right. Tomorrow we can go looking for her but for now, I’m going to take a shower and then a long soak in my recoupracoon." He turns to the bronze-blooded girl "You better shower with me. You smell like shit.” The prince smirked as he stood up, grabbing the slave by the arm and leading her up the stairs, earning another eye roll from his sister.

"Don't fuckin' lose that one! She does my hair."

Edrius responded by promptly flipping her off with his free hand.


End file.
